Ventura County Focus

Countywide : Another Storm Expected to Arrive Today or Tomorrow

Forecasters predicted another storm will sweep across Ventura County late today or early Sunday, bringing widely scattered showers that will drop up to an inch of rain in the mountains.

Today's storm, however, is expected to be far lighter than Thursday's downpour, which contributed to a head-on collision on California 126 west of Fillmore that claimed two lives.

Authorities on Friday identified the victims of the accident as Adrian Chavez, 33, of Fillmore, and Elias Maldonado, 23, of Santa Paula.

Chavez was driving a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air eastbound on the two-lane highway at about 5:20 p.m. and Maldonado was heading westbound in his 1981 Chevrolet Camaro when Maldonado lost control of his vehicle, the California Highway Patrol said.

With his car spinning out of control on the rain-slicked road, Maldonado crossed the center divider, smashing into the driver's side of Chavez's car, the CHP said. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.

The storm that pelted the county Thursday left in its wake partly cloudy skies and 20- to 30-m.p.h. winds through most of Friday, said Steve Burback, a meteorologist for WeatherData Inc., which forecasts for The Times.

Although the winds are expected to die down today, the cloudiness will increase, possibly culminating in rain this evening, he said.

"It should move on through pretty quickly so most of the rain will be over by Sunday morning," Burback said. "After that it should be dry through Wednesday."

Temperatures will increase slightly over the weekend, from highs in the lower 60s on Saturday to the middle 60s Sunday and warming to the 70s by early next week, he said.

County Rainfall

Here are rainfall figures from 8 a.m. Wednesday to 8 a.m. Friday from the Ventura County Flood Control District. Oct. 1 is the beginning of the official rain year.